The Caribbean islands are one of the last regions in North America to have human settlements and their roots are still unclear. A group of scientists generated genome-wide data for 93 ancient islanders, finding evidence of three separate distribution patterns, contrary to traditional archaelogical beliefs.
Two early dispersals into the Western Caribbean were rooted in the North American movement while the other was an expansion from South America. There were also genetic differences between the first settlers and those arriving from South America with minimal evidence of the two races mixing. Their findings contribute to the movement of Archaic Age Peoples in the Americas and the Caribbean's initial peopling.
Today, the Caribbean islands comprise of diverse human cultures. Early migrants arrived somewhere between 5000 and 8000 years ago, yet scientists don't know how exactly where they came from and how they reached the islands. A current DNA study suggests complex migration origins and how the first inhabitants interacted with new settlers who arrived 2800 years ago.
Jada Benn Torres, a genetic anthropologist from Vanderbilt University who did not participate in the research, shared that before this new work, very little pre-colonial Caribbean genomes have been sequenced since genetic material quickly decay in tropical environments.
Archaeologists divided precolonial Caribbean history into two eras: the early settlers are included in the Archaic Age 8000 years ago while the Ceramic Age from 2800 years ago included a new wave of people. The new arrivals from South America brought their agriculture lifestyle and various styles of pottery.
Discovering Diversity
The origins of the Archaic Age peoples remained unclear until the researchers found evidence of two genetic groups. Yadira Chinique de Armas, an archaeologist from the University of Winnipeg, said that 'This is the first time that we can actually say that these [early inhabitants] were not only culturally diverse but also biologically diverse.'
One individual shared genetic similarities with Indigenous people from California's Channel Islands almost 5000 years ago, meaning that the first wave of settlers could have been from Central or North America. Another unique individual had Puerto Rican DNA, showing a mixture of both Ceramic and Archaic Age admixture.
This was in agreement with another study that examined 184 precolonial individuals, resulting in two people containing the same genetic mix. The two people lived on Hispaniola, modern-day Haiti and the Dominican Republic.
The rest of the genome-wide data predated European contact with Cuba, Venezuela, Curaçao, Puerto Rico, and The Bahamas. Mixed genetics were rare as the team found evidence that 'Ceramic-associated people avoided close kin unions despite limited mate pools reflecting low effective population sizes.'
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Mosaic of History
Hannes Schroeder, an ancient DNA researcher from the University of Copenhagen, said that this is a rare genetic mix. 'We need more individuals from those crucial places in order to really have an idea as to how widespread [this genetic mixing] was," he explained.
Both studies are in disagreement with traditional models of Caribbean history. European colonizers had taken out the possibility of the region's diversity and complexity that is seen in the new research. The new genetic research show how 'the Caribbean was potentially always a mosaic' of ancestries, cultures, and origins.
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